RELAX NOW - PANIC LATER

I'm trying to get worked up about the season's first loss to a club it might've been expected to beat. Panicking shouldn't be any trouble, given that panic is what Newcastle United fans do, and I haven't had much trouble overreacting to defeats in the past. Here's what's stopping me now.

1. It's December 10. Almost any club has served up a clinker or two by now.

2. If someone had shown you that XI before the season started, would you have thought it was closer to Europe, or relegation?

3. And yet, the players pressed into premature action or unfamiliar spots provided some of the brighter moments. Davide Santon, Danny Simpson, and until frustration got the better of him, Dan Gosling all acquitted themselves favorably, providing hope that the squad, stretched as it is, may not be as far as we think from achieving the depth necessary to contend for Europe.

But the depth obviously isn't there yet. If that hasn't been addressed by the end of the upcoming transfer window - or if, heaven forbid, the club gets thinner while the owner's wallet gets thicker - THEN it'll be time to panic.

We should have expected what happened at Norwich. We should have expected that key players would be lost over the course of the season. That's football.

But none of us expected Newcastle would stand so high in the league when adversity finally hit. So let's rest easy as the holidays approach. Let's be thankful for the points the club has already banked against misfortune. Let's wait to panic until management, much as we may anticipate it, gives us a real reason.

Comments

[Jinky Jim]

you do not have black and white specs, just black!the young goose was crap!!!!!!

[Ryan]

Well it was certainly a deflating loss, but I agree with Bob that it's not time to panic yet. The defense was poor yesterday and the team just didn't put in a good performance. I do give them credit for fighting and not giving up, despite being down to 10 men. This Newcastle squad never quits, and after Ba scored his second, it seemed to me that there would be an equalizer coming.

Getting Tiote and Colo back should help out quite a bit. We definitely need to come back next week and get all 3 points to get back on track. A solid run in December heading into the window would be very nice.